Nobman-w



Vacuum-Engine; and W fisee'c' imwTON-, ornnwfronn; ieivn i 'Nonnen zw'."WHEEL-n n, "on-Bacon MOVEMENT 1N-vACvUMfENGiNasj- :'-jgcityand countyfa-ndState of New York, and

- NORMAN W. .WHEELER,ofthe city of Brook:-

York, v have; finv'ented a new and' Improvedf the followingto be a full,clear, and ex'actde f, l sc ription of the same`,greference being had-tofthe annexed drawings, making part of this --gspecificatie11,1inwhichl e e j- I lil'gu're'fl is a; e tion; and-Eig," isa `verticalsection through one of thejpump's .of said engine, showing the op view;Figi?, a sideelevainaf-'ter referred toyand moreffully explained.

To 'enable others skilled in the arts to which ourlinventionappertainsyto make 'and usethe "same,we will proceed tled'to'itsoration'.- The experience furnished by. the present war-'showsthat armed vessels, especially'while performing ,.times be ready to getunder Way, and to '-'nioveat once with their" maximum velocity 7 andpower, -a'ndnot be compelled-to Wait the vg'reuiual d'evelop nient of 5advantages maybe realized;

f divith*themarfine'engine as atpresent cone.

1istructed, with surface c onden'sers, and with -theair `and-circulating pump worked bythe fmainengineit' is impossible toaccomplish these two objects in anything like perfection,

'because the engine cannot be made to develop its maximum vpowerwithout. the usual head 'O f Stealnin-the boilers and 'the reserved'vacu um in .the condenser, neither of which can be sustained withoutthe operation of the main engine to Work oft the vac u mn;{f or1whilethe engine is at rest.

pt npthereiisl,nowayfoflvdisposing of the ste ml but byfblQQWngfit.'which at fonce odescribe its construe. tion pand-operationyeits'fnatnr'e," objects, and advantages, and the considerations which havellolookading' duty, should at all the firesv to supply #steamenouglitQWork the engine's'even at a L-moderatefrate 'of speed; and .itis also impor-` -Jtantthat this state of preparation shouldbe keptsecret from the' enemy, by` which great the steam and maintain]thevaeuunl -is.lost, andeifri. case the lires arev i preparedlto start;To cure :thesedefects# thatis, to obtain secrecy and Areadiness-it'i snecessary to so modify the construction of; the condensing vmarineengine 4with surface-'condenser' niet a win be -eeefrele ef eoneumingi-th'e'steamfof ,the boilers'when the motive en -'.1 ginefis'at rest,even though-git be keptlati'tsland-at' thesiime time` maintainthevacuumin theecondensei".;'- `j To provide such arnodicationofthemarine engine as will"eiiiectuallyfrealize thesejadvfa'nlf' saidinvention consists in ai certain; .combination and arrangementofjindepe'ndent air'and circulatiugpumps iwith ea 0h15yothl.,z and WLthe"surface-condenser 01' the 'end thatthe vacuum inthe condenser-may beconstantly maintained,;and all the:- steam;` generatedfintheboilerfwhether the vmain en-, 1 1,

willen-.we have rebrieatedefortnie purpose) and which'e'mbodies thecombinationand are is described as follows, referencefbeing'had .to

rcferen ce niarked'thereou. 1

The malin or channel said platethere'are arranged two circulatingpumps,- JA A. "Th

A' longitudinal section' through one of the air pvfnps,4 apart of the',lbed fplate, and delivery- `-channel, is shown by Fig.' 3. a representsthe f'pump, b, 'the buckets; the receizingfval-ve;v

d, thebucke'trvalv; e, Atl1e` fde1iveryv alve;v f, the receivingchannel,and g the deliveryphanf nel. All .the aforementioned valves are yofindia-.rn'bbe'r; The delivery-v valve rises and falls on the centerpiece, ]L, as a-"guide The bucket-va1ves guided in its ascentv and -de-"scent-by ribs'g'i, cast'in the buckets around the periphery of-fthevalv e, landffthe receivingvalve; iskept in .positip n bythe centerpiece, .of thefenderlne; The internal detail construe glnebe at restor-not) can be consumed in the? condenser.th us avoiding noisevvand"waste of freshwater .by blowing olf steam'.V lThe engine.'

plate ofthe engine is represented in thedrawingsbyA. 1 Upon one side ofsaid bed-plate'there are set twolair-y pumps,' B B, and lupon thevopposite: side `ofesepumpsareall of like'A stroke,- and their axes areadjusted on parallel vlplanesilooth-zways.v The internalconstructionVY foffthe pumps areall's'ubstantially the same.

tion of these pumps is so fully and completely A illustrated by thedrawings that any further description of it is thought unnecessary. 0none end ofthe said bed-plate, about midway between the two sides, thesteam-cylinder C is arranged. It is of the ordinary construction,provided with Pa steamohest, P, a nd fitted with slide-valves of theusual style. The main beamor lever of the engine is represented by D.This beam is secured on a rock-shaft, E,

which is supported in the frame L. To one end of this beam the steampiston-redis attached by means of links in the usual way, one end oflsaid links being attached to a pin in the end'of thebeam and theotherend to a cross-head, @which has a vertical reciprocating motion inthe guide-brackets R R. To the opposite end of said beam theconnecting-rod S is attached, which communicates motion to Vthefly-wheel' N throughV the agency ofthe crank M, said fly-wheel beingsecured on one end and said crank on the lopposite end of the shaft O,which shaft is arranged in suitable plumber-blocks on the rear end ofsaid bedplate.

y On each end4 of the rock-shaft'lE a lever,

' F G, is secured, the one, G, operating the two A .tbronghthe agency ofwh-ich the steam-valve Vi's'topearated, the levenu being actuated by theeccentric-rod T. (Shown in dotted lines.) The .eccentric is ofthe'common variety, and is applied in the ordinary manner. Upon both theair and circulating -pumps .the're is mounted what we term achannelplate. t These plates are shown in Figures 1 and 2 by I I. Eachplate cover's the entire top'of two'pumps--that is to say, one platecovers the air pumps and the other the circulating-pumps-and form thedelivering- -channel for these pumps, respectively. .The p `inside ofthe channel is shown: by ggi'nhiff.

3.l The delivery/@nozzle of the channel-plates is shown by W, and thereceiving-nozzles of the bed-plate are shown by Z Z.

At the side of onexof the air-pumps there arearranged two fred-pumps, asshownY by I J, and at the side of the other air-pump there is arranged-abilge-pump, J, and at the side ofone of the circulating-pumps there isarranged a pump, K,which is designed to oper-Y ate the reversing-gear ofthe main engines by pumping water into a hydraulic cylindercommunicating with that part of the main engines. These small pumps areoperated'by their plungers to one end ofAV the main pump cross-heads,the length of which is extended to afford means for the connection, asshown by K.

`When this engine is in operation the receiving-nozzle Z of theair-pumps is connected to the freshwater side ofthe surface-condenser,and the receiving-nozzle Z of thefcirculatingpumps united to thesalt-water side of the condenser, the air-pumps drawing the water ofcondensation out of the condenser and discharging it through the noz'zleW into ahotwell, while the circulating-pumps draw out of the condenserthe condensing-water and throw` it, through the nozzle W into theout-board delivery-pipe, into the sea.

lt will be. seen that the pumps employed 1n this engine aresingle-acting; that theyare arranged in pairs and connected to opposlleends of the same lever, and'that the operation of the engine is steadiedby the action of a heavy Vfly-wheel, from-which facts itwill appearthat. the pumps are accurately balanced, and must be uniform and steadyin their action, whichis oneof the great desiderata in a pumping-engine.l

In constructing these engines itis proposed to extend the mainrock-shaft E over the side" of the frame nextthemain'engline and fixthereon a lever to which a connection can be made with the main engine,so that in case of accidentsto the pumping-engine the pumps can beworked by the main engine. This arrangement is not shown on thedrawings, but

'an engineer will readily see how it can be accomplished. y I

rlhe apparatus described herein is intended for engines provided withsurface-condensers;

but the same arrangement is applicable to jet-condensers by dispensingwith the circulating-pumps.

Now, we are aware that independent air and .circulating pumps for marineengines with surface-condensers have beenproposed and even applied,butwith poor success.v The indispensable conditions to realize theadvantagesoered by suchan apparatus are' simplicity, certainty,capacity, and a steady regularity of action, andv we claimthat vourapparatus approaches .perfection in these particulars more nearly thananything that has been hitherto proposed. We do not, however, mean tolayclaim to the useof independent-"air, circulating",4 vfeed, or bilgepumps, per se; neither do we mean to coniine our claim to the certainconstruction and arrangement of parts describedin this specication, orshownin the drawings annexed hereto; but

What we do claim as our invention, and desire to secure by LettersPatent, is

1. The use of `the single-acting airand circulating pumps B Band AA, incombination with each other, and with the surface-condenser of a'lnarineengine, when saidpnmps are connected and operated in relation to eachother substantially in thc manner described.

2. The combination of the receiving-valves

